Lottery game tickets are frequently sold in retail establishments such as convenience stores, liquor stores, and the like. These and other establishments selling lottery tickets are sensitive to the costs of counter space used, and labor required in the sale and redemption of lottery tickets. Having separate point of sale terminals for lottery tickets and other merchandise may increase these costs. In response, point of sale terminals that combine lottery ticket sales and redemption and regular merchandise point of sale functions have been proposed. Promotional games may also be used at point of sale terminals, e.g., providing free game chances to purchasers who meet minimum purchase requirements.
The combination of lottery and standard point of sale terminals has given rise to a “change game” where customers may purchase a fractional lottery ticket in a future lottery drawing, rather than receiving change. Such an approach may cut change processing costs of retailers and boost lottery sales. Change games presently sell consumers a fractional ticket in a weekly or other regular lottery drawing, where the tickets normally have a fixed unit cost.
Some lottery customers do not want to wait for a weekly or daily drawing. These customers may purchase “instant win” lottery tickets. Such tickets may also involve games, e.g., bingo or number matching, that increase customer interest and enjoyment in the purchase of such tickets. Instant win lottery tickets are generally sold to retailers in pre-printed books or bundles. A pre-printed ticket may have a printed indicia or message indicating the ticket is a winner and/or the prize amount, as well as human or machine readable codes for authenticating winning tickets. These indicia, messages, and codes may be hidden, e.g., with a peel-off or scratch-off coating. Conventional instant-win tickets for lottery or promotion games, which are preprinted, may not be suitable for use in games where the prize amounts or game information are not determined until the time of purchase, e.g., a game where the prize structure varies as a function of the game price such as a fractional ticket or “change game”.